In 1998, Croatia surprised the football world when they had what was the Cinderella story of the tournament. Making their first ever appearance in a World Cup, the Vatreni made it all the way to the semi-finals, where they were defeated by hosts France but were able to seal a third placed finish at the cost of the Netherlands.
Yet immediately following their surprise run, they went through a period of disappointing results for the early part of the 2000's. The team then experienced a roller coaster ride for the second half of the decade as they made it to the quarter-finals of EURO 2008, failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, and exited during the group stage of EURO 2012.
In their opening match versus hosts Brazil, they will be without the services of Bayern Munich striker Mario Mandzukic, who received a red card in the second leg of the play-off match against Iceland. And as the Bayern Munich man was his team's highest scorer in the qualification rounds, this will obviously pose a bit of a headache for manager Niko Kovac when deciding who to field in attack against the 2013 Confederations Cup winners.
Another player that many will have their eyes on is of course Real Madrid's Luka Modric, with the former Tottenham man having settled in well during his sophomore season at Real Madrid. And, with the Champions League final in just 10 days, could have the opportunity to clinch some silverware before heading to Brazil.
Croatia looked somewhat shaky in their qualifiers and had to secure their spot via a play-off
With Brazil, Cameroon, and Mexico for company in Group A, Croatia will be hoping for the best result possible against the five-time World Cup champions, and will naturally try to overcome any potential deficit from the first game when taking on Samuel Eto'o's Cameroon followed by Mexico.
Croatia will be counting on both Modric and Mandzukic to help them get out of their group
Here is Niko Kovac's final 23-man World Cup squad:
*NOTE: Those that were called in the provisional squad but didn't make the final cut (due to injury or other issues) are in italics and bold.
Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa, Danijel Subasic, Oliver Zelenika
Defenders: Dario Srna, Dejan Lovren, Vedran Corluka, Gordon Schildenfeld, Danijel Pranjic, Ivan Strinic, Domagoj Vida, Sime Vrsaljko, Igor Bubnjic
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic, Niko Kranjcar, Ognjen Vukojevic, Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic, Milan Badelj, Ivo Ilicevic, Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Mocinic, Mario Pasalic, Sammir
Forwards: Mario Mandzukic, Ivica Olic, Eduardo da Silva, Nikica Jelavic, Ante Rebic, Duje Cop
